Starting in the 1770s, if not earlier, the area that is now Kankakee County was largely populated by the Potawatomi.
French Canadian Settlers came to Kankakee County in 1834, after the federal government signed the Treaty of Camp Tippecanoe in 1832. They were soon joined by migrants from New York and Vermont, mostly locating in Momence, Illinois. In the 1840s, most of the migrants were French Canadians, and they settled in such places as Bourbonnais.
An act of the Illinois Legislature created Kankakee County out of the north part of Iroquois County and the south part of Will County in February 1853. The six original townships were Yellowhead, Rockville, Bourbonnais, Momence, Aroma Park, and Limestone. The population of the new county was about 8,000. In 1855 the two western townships (Norton and Essex) were taken from Vermilion County and added to Kankakee County. The county was named for the Kankakee River.
Kankakee County at the time of its creation in 1853
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 681 square miles (1,760 km2), of which 677 square miles (1,750 km2) (99.3%) is land and 4.8 square miles (12 km2) (0.7%) is water.[3]
In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Kankakee have ranged from a low of 12 °F (−11 °C) in January to a high of 86 °F (30 °C) in July, although a record low of −29 °F (−34 °C) was recorded in January 1985 and a record high of 107 °F (42 °C) was recorded in August 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.62 inches (41 mm) in February to 4.54 inches (115 mm) in May.[4]
U.S. Decennial Census[6] 1790-1960[7] 1900-1990[8] 1990-2000[9] 2010[10]
2000 census age pyramid for Kankakee County
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 113,449 people, 41,511 households, and 28,680 families residing in the county.[11] The population density was 167.7 inhabitants per square mile (64.7/km2). There were 45,246 housing units at an average density of 66.9 per square mile (25.8/km2).[3] The racial makeup of the county was 77.6% white, 15.1% black or African American, 0.9% Asian, 0.3% Native American, 4.0% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 9.0% of the population.[11] In terms of ancestry, 26.5% were German, 14.2% were Irish, 7.4% were English, 6.7% were Italian, 5.8% were Polish, and 3.6% were American.[12]
Of the 41,511 households, 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 30.9% were non-families, and 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.13. The median age was 36.7 years.[11]
The median income for a household in the county was $50,484 and the median income for a family was $59,998. Males had a median income of $49,858 versus $32,247 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,888. About 10.8% of families and 15.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.6% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.[13]
In December 2016, Kankakee County became the only county in Illinois to have a Libertarian county board member when Jim Byrne of Bradley left the Republican Party to join the Libertarian Party.[15] In the 2020 general election, Byrne lost reelection to Democratic candidate Heather Bryan, while Libertarian Jacob Collins was elected unopposed on the Libertarian line continuing Kankakee County's distinction of being the only county with a Libertarian board member[16][17] until Collins opted not to run for reelection in the 2022 general election.[18]
Forstall, Richard L., ed. (1996). Population of states and counties of the United States: 1790 to 1990 : from the twenty-one decennial censuses. United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Population Division. ISBN0-934213-48-8.
